I was overjoyed. "What a coincidence!"


    Lucas nodded, his eyes lighting up with genuine delight. "By the way, I still don''t know your name."


    "I''m Serena," I said. "How are you so skilled at fighting?"


    Pride flickered across his face. "I''vepeted in karate tournaments and even won a championship."


    I was surprised as I recalled my first impression of him. Back then, he had been bullied by Henry and Xena, and I had assumed he was soft and easily pushed around.


    Perhaps reading my thoughts, he lowered his gaze. "They''re the future heads of the Schneider family. If I were to fight back, it would''ve upset my father."


    I let out a long sigh. Yet another child trapped by circumstances.


    "Serena?" a familiar voice, filled with urgency, called from outside.


    "Is someone looking for you?" Lucas asked. "Is he the guy who dropped you off earlier?"


    I nodded. "Yes, he''s my brother. He helped me move today."


    "Your brother?" Lucas chuckled softly. "Since you''re fine, I''ll make a move first. You should head out so that he doesn''t worry too much."


    "Alright." I nodded. "Thank you so much for today."


    Lucas hopped into a sleek ck Mercedes. With a purr of the engine, the car vanished in no time. Meanwhile, Alex''s anxious voice echoed from outside.


    "I''m here!" I stepped out, feeling a wave of relief as I had just narrowly escaped a disaster.


    Alex was standing with his back to me, but the moment he heard my voice, he spun around and strode over, pulling me into a tight embrace. His body was warm, and his breath brushed against the side of my neck.


    "I''m fine." I patted his back to reassure him. "I''m sorry for worrying you."


    "You scared me to death," he murmured, his voice trembling slightly.


    After repacking my stuff, Alex insisted on carrying all my things upstairs. After that, he brought out iodine and cotton swabs, carefully tending to the scrapes on my wrist.


    It hadn''t hurt much earlier, but now that the adrenaline had worn off and I was calm again, the sting made me draw in a sharp breath.


    "Who saved you?" he asked while dabbing at the wound.


    I fell silent for a moment. Exining who Lucas was and how we had met felt like


    too much detail. So, I kept it simple. "Just a kind stranger who happened to pass by."


    "Did you properly thank them?" Alex tossed the used swabs into the trash.


    I couldn''t help but chuckle at his child-like tone, but I nodded.


    "Why were they trying to grab you?" He began wrapping my wrist with gauze, surprisingly meticulous. "Did you manage to ask them?"


    I nced at my now heavily bandaged hand and couldn''t help butugh. "This isn''t that serious. Do you need to wrap it like this?"


    Alex ignored my protests and kept going. I had no choice but to relent and let him finish.


    "They mentioned two women—one


    with the surname Harper and the other Harrington," I said with a frown "It''s probably Jolene and Elena. I just don''t know how those two managed to team up."


    "I''ll have Oliver deal with those three thugs, but don''t get your hopes up. Guys like that rarely rat out their employers. They''ll probably im it was just a robbery or something."


    In other words, there wasn''t much I could do about Jolene and Elena for now.